Love Hina: Changes
by Allen Ramsey II
Summary: Something is 'off' with Keitaro, at least as far as Kitsune is concerned. So when she sees an opportunity to figure out just what it is that is 'off' and takes it, what she finds is something that she - and all the rest of the Hinata Girls - would have NEVER guessed! What will this discovery mean for Kei, and for the girls he lives with as well? !Kei/Mitsune
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Love Hina and make no profit from this work.

**WARNINGS: Rated T for language, violence, mature themes (e.g. gender norms, sexuality, depression, and social commentary), non-explicit sexual themes, and shoujo-ai/yuri.**

_AN: So, this is the fandom I previously started on on my previous account (Look up 'Love Hina: All Girls Dorm Edition' for my first ever story with my first account, which was completed), and for some reason I find it calling out to me again with this lovely little idea I bring to you! Sadly I lost my old account login stuff and the email long since closed, but I'm back and ready to bring you some awesome fanfiction! Hope y'all enjoy and leave reviews please!_

_UPDATE: Right, someone reminded me that I put 'nephew' for Keitaro in reference to Granny Hina. Yeah, Hina and Haruka got blended in my head it seems... fixed though for Keitaro to be Hina's grandson, and Haruka's nephew (I think I got them all)_

_UPDATE2: At a review's suggestion I have reviewed grammar and writing rules, and adjusted accordingly. I now use the hyphen for conjoined words and stuttering, en dashes for the in-sentence narrative asides, and the em dash for the cut-offs and interruptions. Hooray learning! Also fixed the quote/period issue too._

_Also, for reference - is a hyphen, – is an en dash, and — is an em dash._

* * *

_**Love Hina: Changes**_

_**Chapter 1**_

* * *

"Hello? Grandma Hina?" a voice called as the front entrance to the Hinata 'Inn' slid open. "It's… it's me, Keitaro? Your grandson? Hello?"

No response; were the staff all on break? Were they closed for business today? It was an off-season for hotels and inns after all… Keitaro made his way into the 'Inn,' checking the kitchen, the halls, a few open – and empty – rooms, and eventually stopping in front of Hina's room, clearly marked, to find that indeed it seemed neither guest nor employee nor owner was present on the grounds of the 'Inn'. It was odd; why would Hina ask him to come here after he'd contacted her about his situation, then not be here when he was expected to arrive? It made very little sense…

Waiting in Grandma Hina's room for a while, he eventually got bored and decided to get up and look around some more. It'd been a very long time since he'd last been here, the time of the promise that had driven him so far in his life being the last time he was on the ground of the Hinata 'Inn.' He wanted to try and get a feel for the place again, perhaps spark more memories of the girl from so long ago, just maybe.

Or, perhaps instead, he'd find—

"A _hot spring bath?!_" Keitaro exclaimed as he opened up the door and saw the vast expanse of the bath before him. "Wow, I don't remember this being here!"

He began to take a few steps towards the changing room, slowed, and then eventually stopped, a look of concern on his face. It was a good several seconds of him frozen still in silence before Keitaro decided that perhaps a bath was a bad idea. After all, someone might see him, and he really didn't like the thought of that. So back out the way he came in, shutting the door behind him with a sigh. Well, that decision over and done with, the place really was empty… didn't Haruka have a tea shop nearby? Maybe Hina and the employees were taking their break at Aunt Haruka's shop there…

* * *

The door to the shop gave off a jingle that caught Haruka's attention from her smoke break out behind her teahouse. A little grumble as she dropped the cigarette and ground it out prefaced her return to work, an expression of 'not pissed off at least' where one would expect a smile for greeting customers was present as she came through the divide to the front of the shop. Didn't even get the usual greeting out before she realized who it was waving at her, and only then did some semblance of a smile cross her features (and only because he was the only one at the shop at the moment; she had an appearance to keep up!).

"Well Keitaro, I didn't think I'd see you today," she said, retrieving another cigarette, but not lighting it yet. "Granny didn't mention you'd be here today..."

"...huh?" was Keitaro's response, clearly surprised. "But... the message she sent me was for me to show up today! She's not losing her memory is she?"

A bemused chuckle was the only response Haruka gave, save for a roll of her eyes that just screamed 'no way in hell'.

"Well, that explains why there was nobody up at Hinata..." Keitaro continued, moving to find himself a seat close to Haruka, whom now had her full attention on Keitaro.

"Wait, you've been up to the dorm already?" the older woman asked, an edge to her voice implying an incredulous disbelief.

"Yeah, saw the kitchen, the bath, Hina's room. Waited there a while, but seems nobody was there," Keitaro explained with a nervous grin. "It felt kind of odd wandering around the Inn without anyone around..."

"Dangerous too."

Keitaro's grin froze then, his eyes looking to Haruka, unsure of what she meant.

"Um..."

"The girls up there, some of them are..." Haruka struggled for a good term without being too rude. "Distrustful of having men on the premise, sometimes violently so. Can't really blame them really, given why they're here."

"Wait, why would Hina hire girls to work there that would be so dangerous to guests?" Keitaro asked, the sincerity of the question confusing Haruka until it finally clicked:

"Keitaro, what do you think Hinata is?"

"Huh? It's the Hinata Inn, just as it's always been," Keitaro answered, brow furrowed and confused. "I figured Grandma heard about my, uh, situation and thought I could stay here a bit, which is why she wanted me to come here and talk to her."

Now was time for the cigarette to be lit up; damn Granny Hina sometimes, 'cause Haruka was not about to enjoy this conversation with the mess she'd made of things.

"Keitaro, Hinata isn't an Inn anymore; it's a girls-only dormitory, and it has been for a couple years now."

Silence with only Haruka's inhaling smoke and Keitaro's blinking to add to the lack of sound from the otherwise empty shop persisted for several seconds before—

"IT'S A **WHAT?!**"

* * *

_One long explanation later..._

"So... this is a dorm, for girls... and Grandma hasn't been here in over a year... and some of the girls have... 'issues,' with men..." Keitaro eventually repeated after Haruka's explanation and re-explanations, mentally trying to keep it all in. "Why would she—?"

"No idea," Haruka cut in, having finished her smoke, but still held the filter (or butt) in her fingers. "You know how Granny is."

Silence, yet again.

"Maybe Shirai or Haitani will let me stay with them?" Keitaro muttered, though it seemed as if he was unsure himself, for one reason or another. "I can't stay here after all—"

"Why not?"

This renewed Keitaro's surprise in a heartbeat.

"I, huh?"

"Granny isn't here; I'm the one running the dorm for her," Haruka explained, tossing the butt of her last cig into the nearby ashtray. "Means I am the one who decides who gets to move in, if anyone can."

"Besides, you're family," Haruka continued, with a bit of frustration growing as she thought of her sister, Keitaro's mother. "We Urashimas take care of our own. At least that's how it's _supposed_ to be done."

"But... but what about—"

"Leave _those girls_ to me," Haruka abruptly cut him off, shutting his question down. "_They_ don't make the rules, _I_ do."

"But—" again, another protest was cut off by Haruka's glare, and Keitaro – simply not wanting to cause problems with his presence – backed down. "Thank you Aunt—"

The resounding echo of the firm smack to Keitaro's head was echoed only by the sound of Keitaro falling out of his chair onto the teahouse floor.

"Don't call me that; I'm not that old, you brat," was Haruka's terse directive.

"Ow..." was Keitaro's equally eloquent statement of understanding.

* * *

"Absolutely not!"

Keitaro winced at the young woman's shouting, directed at him solely at this point. The woman – Naru, or so he had been told – was one of the ones that Haruka had warned him about. And indeed her protests were quite verbal, vocal, and emphatic. At least the other woman – Motoko – had the decency to currently remain silent in front of Haruka, though the glare Keitaro was getting from the woman – dressed like a samurai or a shrine maiden and carrying a _sword_ – was somehow more intimidating than Naru's screams.

The entire collection of the dorm's residents were present in the main room of the building, seated about himself and Haruka. Ages between 12 and 18, the names he could remember were Shinobu – the shy bluenette – Suu – the energetic dark-skinned blond – Motoko, Naru, and Mitsune – aka. Kitsune, what with her rather vulpine nature and appearance. Of those, two were fuming, two were curious, one was shy and nervous about the rare male in their presence, something that made Keitaro feel quite uncomfortable and significantly more self-conscious as the antics continued.

"This is a dormitory for _girls_! We can't have a _man_ living here with us!" Naru continued to shout, very visibly fuming. "What if he does something to one of us?! Shinobu and Suu—"

Keitaro visibly cringed at the implication that he'd try and do something to _children_; it really hurt, worse than a kick to the groin, or a knife to the gut.

"What are you suggesting?" Haruka cut in, her tone that of barely contained rage that was greater than Naru's own. "Are you suggesting that my nephew, my one and _only_ nephew, would attempt to harm any of you in any way?"

Naru faltered, and Motoko's gaze softened, and averted, lest her eyes be caught glaring by the mother of the house, the person save Motoko's own sister who scared her most.

"W-Well, he came here wanting to live here at a _girl's dorm_ for a reason!"

"I didn't even know... it was..." Keitaro spoke up, but tapered off as the full wrath of Naru's gaze fell upon him.

"And when you found out you _forced_ Haruka to give you a room here I bet!"

"No, he didn't," Haruka calmly stated, her tone more constrained for the moment. "I insisted; he was willing to find a friend to stay with."

"Then why—"

"Because he is _family,_" Haruka stated harshly, quelling Naru's protest. "You are not. Would you have me tell my flesh and blood he has to live somewhere else because a _tenant_ has issues with men for no apparent reason?"

And with that was the end of the argument coming from Naru, but even so she didn't back down quietly.

"Fine! Whatever; he can stay!" she conceded, plopping back onto the couch with a huff and crossed arms.

Keitaro sighed, one part relief, one part nerves, but smiled nervously regardless. For another resident, the smile on her face was one of opportunity. The opportunity for fun, income, and for mixing things up in the Hinata Girls Dorm. The vulpine woman's smile was indeed a kitsune's smile of mischief and hunger at this adorkable prey that had wandered into the dwellings of the girls four and she...

* * *

It was strange, getting used to this new-yet-old place. Keitaro had lived his life thus far with his parents, in their home, basically in the same room. Now here he was, in the old manager's room, which was empty but for a futon and the few bags he'd brought with him with some clothes and materials for studying over the next week or two before he returned – yet again – to cram school. For the third year, failing the exam for Tokyo University – Toudai – twice before now. If only he was good at English... and Japanese... History, Math, Biology, Physics... couple others...

No; he shook his head as he sat up, legs crossed. No point thinking about that right now, as he needed to be getting used to this place instead. He was living in a girls-only dorm, the first 'roommates' he'd ever had that weren't related to him in anyway, and needless to say some of them were a hazard to his health if he wasn't careful. Luckily he usually was; he kind of had to be after all, what with everything he had going on.

Which led him to the first thing he had to concern himself with; Hinata had some secret passage ways, didn't it? Emphasis on 'secret' in this instance. He remembered crawling around them when he was much younger, getting so lost that it took Hina herself coming in after them to find himself and... his promise girl, whose name he'd long ago forgotten. How twisted was that; he could remember secret passages, but not the name of the girl he'd promised so long ago to meet once more at Toudai? Fate was cruel, and Keitaro knew that better than anyone else that he'd met...

But focus, focus! Keitaro was sure that there was a passageway that led out from the manager's room he was set to room in. He just had to find it, quickly checking the walls, the floor... aha! Far right corner from the door and voila! Just had to remove the tatami and pop the latch on it and in he could go! This was good, very good, he thought as he climbed into the secret passage and closed it behind him, pulling out his phone for light; if none of the girls knew about these passages, then that meant he had places that he could hide some stuff he didn't want any of the girls – or anyone he had any concerns or caution towards for that matter – to know about.

The door to the manager's room opened seconds after he'd closed the secret passage, the vulpine resident that was Keitaro's next-door neighbor room-wise peeking her head in with a grin. A grin that soon faded as she found neither hide nor hair of the new male resident. Darn, she thought, clicking her tongue as she shut the door and crossed her arms; she'd have to wait til later to start flirt-uh, 'introducing' herself to the shy, nerdy, and likely easily exploitable male that was Granny Hina's grandson. That brought a smile to her face; once she had him in her pocket, and his wealth from Hina's fortunate coffers, she'd be on easy street for a good long while...

* * *

Mitsune "Kitsune" Konno was a very, _very_ frustrated woman by the end of the second day of Keitaro's stay. This Keitaro Urashima... he was a harder mark than she had originally thought. Before any fun 'incident' could happen with the open hot spring bath, Keitaro had set up a personal, private bath for himself that was isolated and had no line of sight to the open bath the girls regularly used. He kept to himself largely, spent a lot of time studying, and when he wasn't studying he seemed to go off to gods-knew-where and be there for gods-knew-how-long. When he _was_ around the other girls, he was never alone or in a private spot; he hadn't gone into their rooms with them, talked with them in either the main room or dining room or hallway for the most part. Shinobu seemed to like talking with him, and was the first to find out he preferred to be called 'Kei' instead of 'Keitaro'. Su was naturally as affectionate with him as she was everyone else, and while Naru and Motoko still had their guards up, both were at least not hounding him every moment of the day as protectors of chastity and virtue for the younger girls.

It was, to say the least, so very terribly _boring_ for the fox-faced Konno. That was her biggest complaint about Hinata; it was too boring, nothing _interesting_ happened before, but a male in an all-girls dorm? Hell, that should have been a hilarious mess of misunderstandings and compromising situations! But no, not at all, instead it was as if everything was largely normal, like nothing at all had changed...

Now it was time to _make_ that change happen, even if Kitsune had to 'manufacture' the catalyst herself!

If people had described Mitsune Konno's top three skills, one of them would be drinking, another would be gambling (though not necessarily winning), and the third would be snooping. In this case, as Kitsune cracked open Keitaro's room to glance inside, the third one was going to be the one most well demonstrated as she slid herself into the room and shut the door behind her. Her face was split into a wide, mischievous grin as she scanned his room. It was now a bit more full since he'd gotten more of his stuff from his parents' home, but still rather bland to Kitsune's taste. Still, that was good for her; it meant he held onto his money, more for her to get out of him!

Also meant she had less places to rifle through to find something that she could use to mess with the new resident of Hinata Girls Dorm. She worked swiftly, thoroughly, searching through dressers, closet, table, desk, under the futon, pillow, in his clothing (she discovered he wore boxers in the process)...

But nothing. Nothing at all. No hidden porn or gravure magazines, no pictures of naked women or upskirts, no trashy stories, no secret notes, no stolen panties... not even a lonely-man's photo album with pictures of him alone with no girlfriend to take one with! Kitsune was absolutely floored; was this the one man she'd met that had no interest in girls whatsoever? He wasn't gay was he? But, even gay men would have this stuff too, right?

Or... was he secretly a total stud and got with so many women he didn't need anything else? Extremely unlikely, but the chasteness of this room still felt absolutely _wrong_ to Mitsune as she stood in the middle of it, the room looking exactly as she'd found it before she'd started. This just wouldn't do; she needed _something_ to happen with this man here and he just wouldn't let her get that! She groaned, her head tilting back as she looked up to the heavens, instead finding the hole above, covered totally from the floor above in Naru's...

Mitsune's face broke into her widest and most fox-like grin yet; she had a most glorious, crafty idea, simple, yet it would be most efficacious...

* * *

Keitaro was just coming back from a trip into town, bringing food Shinobu had asked him to grab for the Dorm's dinner that night. How was he to say no to such a sweet little girl, who took it upon herself to cook for the entire dorm essentially every night? Kind of reminded him of Kanako to be honest, and then there was Suu who... well, Keitaro was sure it was just the fact that he was a new arrival to the house that she was so excitable and energetic. Or at least he hoped so. Naru and Motoko though he wished could get along with him better; Naru and he were both shooting for the same university, and Motoko... well okay, he didn't have much in common with Motoko, but he had to admire her hard work!

Then there was Mitsune, or Kitsune as she was usually called. She was... Keitaro wasn't sure what to think of the 'freelance journalist'; never saw her work, always seemed to be a bit flirty, drank too much, gambled too often... he didn't want to judge her or anything, but part of him just had to wonder what she _did_, especially since he never saw her work or doing anything else that got her a paycheck (such as writing, as a journalist). Still, she seemed to care about the other girls enough at least, so she couldn't be a _bad_ person, right?

Entering the dorm, Keitaro slipped off his shoes and into his house slippers, making his way through the halls to the kitchen, which currently was empty. Figuring Shinobu was otherwise busy with something important, he began putting away the cold items at least, lest they ruin before Shinobu can work her wonders with them.

"Hey darlin'!"

A sudden voice made him jump a bit, nearly banging his head on the freezer door above as he went to confirm that yes, it was the oldest of the girls he now lived with standing there in the kitchen doorway. That grin on her face felt a bit off to him right about now...

"Hi, Miss Konno."

"Please, it's Mitsune or Kitsune," she responded with a hand-wave, as she had a couple times before when he'd addressed her so formally. "We're all friends here, after all, right?"

"Yeah, of course!" Keitaro responded, still a bit nervous around the highly confident and oft forward woman, putting on a smile. "How's uh, how's your day been, Mitsune?"

"Oh you know, same ol' same ol'..." she responded offhandedly, making her way to the fridge as Keitaro practically hopped out of the way. "I think Naru was looking for you, something about studying together or something."

"Wait, really?" Keitaro asked, a tad incredulous, though the subject had come up once or twice during dinner "I never thought she'd be interested in helping me study..."

"Could be vice-versa, who knows?" Kitsune stated as she shut the fridge, popping open the tab on a cold beer. "Would give you two time alone to get to know each other; maybe she'll warm up to you because of it. I know she isn't exactly at ease around you, but part of it's just nerves you know? See, she isn't exactly used to being around men..."

"I kinda got that," Keitaro commented, scratching his cheek nervously. "But yeah, okay, uh, did she say when she wanted to—"

"No, but I thought I saw her heading towards your room earlier," Kitsune responded, and with a smile motioned him towards the door. "Head on up stud; wouldn't be good making Naru wait long!"

The blushing man didn't say another word, too embarrassed at being called a 'stud' by a woman like Kitsune to utter a response before taking off towards his room, the cold items already stored in the fridge and the rest safe to leave out. Three seconds of silence, and Kitsune quickly made her way out of the kitchen too, humming a soft tune as she made her way down the hall and up the stairs and to her room, where she saw Naru making her way into Keitaro's room, and knew that the fun was about to begin.

She cleared a spot of sake bottles, opened the balcony-side door, and got comfortable as she watched out over the front of Hinata, waiting patiently for the whispered voices to start getting louder. It didn't take long, seconds really, before Naru found what she'd hidden in the spot that Naru would likely have sat...

"—this? WHAT IS THIS?!"

"What is-AH! OH GOD NARU IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK!"

"WHY DO YOU HAVE GIRLS PANTIES SITTING OUT ON YOUR SEAT?!"

"WAIT, I-I-I, IT'S NOT—"

"OH MY GOD THESE ARE _MY PANTIES!_"

"WHAT?! BUT I WOULDN'T—I DIDN'T—"

"YOU TOOK MY PANTIES! WAIT, YOU _WENT INTO MY ROOM AND TOOK MY PANTIES?!"_

"NONONO, I'D _NEVER_ DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT! I DON'T KNOW—"

"I KNEW YOU'D SHOW YOUR TRUE COLORS SOMEDAY YOU _PERVERT_!"

"NO! I'M NOT A PERVERT! I DIDN'T TAKE YOUR PANTIES, I SWEAR IT!"

"LIAR! YOU DIRTY PERVERTED _LIAR!_"

The next moment produced the sound of Naru's fist colliding with Keitaro's face, the force enough to send him hurdling through the thin door to his room and over the balcony, set to land squarely in the dirt in front of the Hinata Dorm. Kitsune leaned forward, spotted Keitaro face-down in a trench that his face had dug, twitching and shifting a bit from the rough landing. He was fine though; he was strangely tough! A bit overkill on Naru's part – the woman who was now storming out of Keitaro's room and down the hall to the stairs – but nonetheless the fox was entertained, taking a long sip of her beer in celebration at something interesting _finally_ happening.

And she would continue to do so until she had a knock at her door, and called for the person to enter. It was Haruka, with a collection of papers in her hands.

"Mitsune, have you seen Keitaro?"

"Kei? Hmm..." she said, and leaned forward to see that Keitaro had moved from his landing spot and was presumably on his way to his room, or somewhere else she wasn't sure. "Not for a while, what's up?"

"Hm, got to find that kid; have some important news for everyone involving him," Haruka said, sighing and making to leave the next moment. "We'll be having a meeting soon."

"Woah there, ain't you gonna tell me what the news is? You know how I love gossip!" Kitsune was all grins as she said it. "Promise not to tell a soul til you do!"

Haruka rolled her eyes, not believing the fox for one minute, but gave an answer nonetheless.

"Just get the other girls and come down to the main room; I'm going to re-introduce you all to your new manager," she said, and shut the door behind her as she left.

Kitsune had a moment where her face paled, realizing that the 'fun' that she'd just orchestrated couldn't have had _worse_ timing, now that Keitaro – whom the house just heard about him stealing Naru's panties from her room and likely implying he did gods-knew-what with them – was going to be the manager of Hinata. Oh, she had _not _intended this, not one bit.

"Ah hell..." she muttered as she set down the half-finished beer, and went to do as Haruka said: get the other girls and start the next round of screaming and yelling at the newfangled 'pervert' male, led by Naru and Motoko of course.

* * *

His body hurt, and it hurt something fierce. For the last week Keitaro had cleaned the dorm top to bottom, inside and out, and that's not even including all of the repairs and maintenance work that needed to be done on the aging building. It seemed the only way the girls were willing to let him stay was if he did _all_ of the upkeep of the building. Realistically, this was a dorm, so yeah he had some stuff he had to keep up, repairs were certainly part of his new job, but they were the tenants and should have some share in the cleaning of the building... actually, didn't _he_ own the building? Why was he letting them determine if _he_ could live here?

He sighed as he collapsed onto his bed, the floor beneath creaking with age; he knew exactly why things were the way they were, and why since that one day with Naru he'd had several 'incidents' involving the girls, mainly Motoko and Naru. He had to clean the bath, and they would walk in or not post that they were in there, and occasionally as he was doing repairs it put him in positions where he'd be in line-of-sight of the girls' rooms and promptly 'punished' for 'peeping' despite having tools in his hands. Didn't the girls know those punches and sword-strikes hurt?

Keitaro needed to get his mind straight, needed to rest; his brief break from class – hah! – was up tomorrow, and he had to get out of Hinata early to get to class. No, not early; _extra_ early! His heart began to race as he thought about it, his nerves and anxiety getting to him as he glanced towards the secret tunnel hidden in the corner of his room. Yeah, he needed to get out very early, lest any of the girls ask questions he wasn't prepared to answer...

* * *

Kitsune found herself waking up at an odd hour yet again. Drinking did odd things to one's sleep schedule; one day she'd be up at noon, another at three hours before it was even light out. This time it was a bit between the two, but checking the clock Naru and the other girls who had school to attend wouldn't be getting up for another hour or so. Keitaro too come to think of it; he had cram school to attend too...

Sitting up in bed, Kitsune thought she heard movement nearby... a door opening? Yeah, someone had just gone back into Keitaro's room next door. Likely Keitaro, since it didn't sound like any of the girls' steps moving across the room. Going back to bed? No, no it sounds like he's grabbing stuff... is he getting ready to leave? Curiosity got the better of Kitsune as she stood, tried not to stumble as her head spun a bit, and made her way to the door just as Keitaro was coming out of his room.

Before she even spoke up, she saw that Keitaro was dressed, and was carrying a bag, no, two bags, the second being noticeably larger than the one she'd seen him take a few of his school books out of before.

"Mmm, mornin' Kei," she managed to groan out, watching as the male resident-manager jumped at the sound of her voice. "Where you going so early?"

"Oh, uh, g-good morning Mitsune!" he returned with a nervous grin. "W-Well, I have class today, and it takes a long time to get there! Cram school you know, it's an hour away or so and I like to get there early!"

Mitsune's brain wasn't quite working yet as she nodded, but then it seemed it got a kick and had her making an observation:

"You're carrying a lot of stuff for going to cram school," she managed with a lopsided, sleepy grin as she leaned against her doorway. "Taking all your books or somethin'?"

"Ah, yeah! Yeah, I like having all my resources on hand; I'm not smart like Naru after all," he remarked, scratching his cheek nervously. "I, uh, I gotta go though, sorry if I woke you up!"

"Hm, no problem stud," Kitsune commented as the – now embarrassed – Urashima made his way down the hall and downstairs, quickly leaving her sight as she turned back to her room and made for her bed so she could wake up again at a proper hour...

"...wait a second, a cram school an hour away?" Kitsune's mind was kicking into gear, making connections. "Isn't Naru's... but Naru's classes start..."

Kitsune did an about-face and went out of her room to Keitaro's, and looked inside, where she in fact spotted a number of his books. Come to think of it, where did he get that bag from? She'd searched his room _thoroughly_ not even a week ago before the little incident with Naru that she'd orchestrated, and she'd have noticed a bag like that! Now that she thought about it, Keitaro was a _lot_ more nervous than he should have been, and truth be told he couldn't really intentionally lie worth a damn.

For the resident fox, something was up with Keitaro, and she just _had _to know what it was...

* * *

Kitsune was on the prowl, and Keitaro was her prey. Naru had come back a good hour before Keitaro, and when the only male of the household had come back it was without the bag, which he 'had forgotten' at school, and clearly was lying about it. During dinner, Kitsune had brought up the cram school thing to find out if her hunch was correct, and indeed both of them went to the same school. This came as a shock to Naru, who apparently hadn't seen him at all in their class, to which Keitaro rather shoddily explained that he tended to sit in the back and make sure he didn't stand out. Naru accepted this – she did the same thing after all, as Kitsune knew – but the fox did not.

Something was up with Keitaro, something that Keitaro was doing his best to hide from them. Something he was succeeding at doing with all the girls but for Kitsune herself at least. Kitsune's nature just wouldn't let this slide; she _had_ to know what was going on with Keitaro! So that night she drank nothing, went to sleep early, and having the experience from the night before, she knew about the time he'd be up and getting ready. She went to bed after a good bath and was dressed for the early morning, and only hoped that this was something _good_ that would make waking up intentionally at this ungodly hour worth it.

And like clockwork, she was up with her phone setting off an alarm in headphones she'd worn to sleep, and without liquor in her system she was up and going quickly. Quietly she went to the door and cracked hers open ever so slightly, just enough to see Keitaro leave his room and quickly head down the hallway, this time without the larger bag. Interesting... Kitsune waited for him to make it down the stairs before she began to follow him, stopping at the top of the stairs as he got his shoes on, only heading down once he was out the door. She made sure to keep her distance, her thoughts focused only on Keitaro and following him, when they weren't running through possible scenarios as to what he was doing.

Perhaps he was running drugs! Or carrying money for the Yakuza! Maybe... maybe he _was_ a pervert who was selling stuff like panties from the girls or photos! There were all sorts of thoughts that Kitsune was having as she watched from behind a tree as Keitaro went to a spot just off of the steps of Hinata's front entrance and did he just open up part of the hill? A secret storage spot?! Or perhaps a passage? He was in there for a few moments before he came back out with the bag from the night before, that sneaky bastard! Kitsune had to admit this explained some stuff, and also meant Keitaro was perhaps a bit sneakier than she'd originally given him credit for... which meant there was a bit more to the slew of possibilities that she'd been mulling around in her mind.

For over an hour Kitsune followed the yakuza-drug-running-pervert-thief-etc down to the train station, onto the train, and indeed into the nearest major city where the cram school was. It was easier to follow him in the city and on the train; more people, meaning it was easier to not stand out, especially since she'd dressed to be harder to recognize. Though it did mean she had to be closer to him to follow him, but that didn't seem to matter as Keitaro continued his trek to 'class', or wherever else he was actually going to.

She had to stop for a while as Keitaro ducked into a public restroom. Kitsune was good at not being noticed when she really wanted to be, but she wasn't about to go into the men's restroom in such a public place. She found herself a spot across the street, complete with newspaper to appear busy and something she'd picked up along the way to eat. And then she waited...

...and waited...

Waited some more...

Okay, after a half-hour Kitsune was starting to think that something was up. Keitaro had not yet come out of the bathroom, but a few other people had gone in and come out. Not recently though, not after the last two nerdy guys with glasses went in. She got up from her spot and decided to get closer, crossing the street and seeing that the reason nobody had gone in recently was that apparently someone had put an 'out of order' sign on the front of it. That wasn't there thirty minutes ago, and come to think of it the last two that had gone in hadn't come out in the last five minutes or so. Just what was going-

"Oh shit!" she swore as the door started to open, quickly darting away and around into an alley, pressing up against the wall as she prayed that nobody had seen her.

It was several seconds of silence before she heard nearby laughter, the sort of laughter you expect mid-conversation about something funny. A small group passed by her, and it was revealed that they were the source of the laughter, and hey, it was the two nerdy guys who'd gone into the restroom a few minutes ago! They hadn't noticed her, instead too busy talking to the dark-haired girl that was between them, so Kitsune darted back around towards the bathroom to see that the sign was now gone. Quickly she glanced around, saw nobody really looking her way, and then ducked her head into the men's bathroom to see... nobody, nothing; it was completely empty!

"The hell did Keitaro go?!" she hissed, clicking her tongue in frustration as she shut the door and stepped back. "I couldn't have lost him!"

As she mentally retraced and reviewed every person she'd saw go in and out of the bathroom, she glanced back at the two men she'd saw before, the nerdy guys, and decided to make her way to them. As she was approaching them and their female friend between them, she started to take notice of them, and it wasn't even a few moments that she recognized that the female was carrying the same bag as Keitaro was! What the hell was going on?!

"...Kei!" the word caught her attention from their conversation, the name completing a exasperated statement that elicited a lyrical chuckle from the girl next to him, and a laugh from the other male. The woman began to respond though, and though Kitsune couldn't hear the details of the conversation, she could swear that she heard them call the woman Kei...

...

...no... no way... Kitsune's gut couldn't be right on this...

"Kei?" Kitsune called out, taking off the dark glasses and cap that she was wearing, her brow furrowed as her mind was racing, eyes widening as the dark-haired woman stopped, turned, and looked back at her.

The girl was kind of cute, dark brown eyes accented by dark brown, almost black hair down her back, loose. She was fairly modestly dressed, her outfit covering but feminine, the skirt knee-length and the shirt a turtleneck, hose covering the woman's legs leading into simple flats upon her feet. She wore makeup, but it wasn't gaudy or anything...

...but the more Kitsune looked at the woman, the more she could see the similarities. Height, general build, the facial structure, and those eyes, those _eyes_ were what gave it away, once she imagined them with big, thick, bulky glasses in front of them. What really did it was the paling of the woman's face as a look of recognition and realization set in.

"K-Kitsune?!" the woman managed, her voice higher pitched, more feminine, but it was the final nail in a coffin as the tone was easily recognizable to the fox.

_"KEITARO?!"_

* * *

_**End Chapter 1**_

* * *

_AN: Who saw that coming, eh? Hehe, I really hope you all liked this idea, because I sure do like it. Also, I haven't seen this idea done before, and while I apologize for the cliffhanger I do promise to get the next chapter out ASAP. Reviews are VERY highly appreciated, as it's by your reviews that I am able to make this story better, improve my writing, and ultimately give you all something very interesting to read and to perhaps even think about._

_Anyway, more coming soon, and this fic – like my first one on the other account (Allen Ramsey) – is set for a long-run!_

_**A.W.R II**_


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Love Hina and make no profit from this work.

_AN: So, got some feedback, made some edits to chapter 1, didn't add new content to it but made a number of grammar/spelling changes. Which I tried to carry over to this chapter too, which I think was a successful endeavor. If not I'm sure people will point it out; y'all have been good about that so far! So, let us continue, and I'll probably have a closing note for y'all as well addressing some pertinent pronoun usage from now on._

_Credits: overmind2000 – Beta Reader/Assistant_

* * *

_**Love Hina: Changes**_

_**Chapter 2**_

* * *

"_KEITARO?!"_

Kitsune hadn't exactly meant to be so LOUD about her response, attracting some attention to the two of them. Rather, the four of them; the two nerdy guys quickly turned as well, and soon it was a sea of shock, panic, and fear before one of the nerdy guys stepped forward, the taller of the two with the thinner glasses to be precise.

"Honey, it's not what you think I promise!" the man said, putting on a nervous grin, and for the moment confusing Kitsune.

"W-What?!"

"Look, she's just a friend okay? One of Shirai's for that matter!" he continued, sounding somewhat desperate to make Kitsune believe it as Keitaro and the man Kitsune suspected was Shirai turned and took off quickly to get away from the scene. "You know I—"

"Wait!" Kitsune called out, trying to push past the man she didn't know to head towards the woman... man... towards Keitaro in a freaking _dress._ "Kei—"

"HONEY! Please, she has nothing to do with me I promise!" the man – whom Kitsune had just realized was pretending to be Keitaro after she'd so loudly called her new manager's name – shouted, getting her attention as he grabbed her wrist, keeping her from moving forward. "Now please! We're making a scene here in the middle of the street!"

And indeed they were, only instead of what it could have been, Kitsune realized what this man was doing: making it look like he was Keitaro, and making this look like a little domestic squabble, instead of what it actually was which was... which was...

Honestly, Kitsune wasn't entirely sure just _what_ it was that she had seen! 'Had' was the appropriate word too; Keitaro and Shirai were long gone by the time Kitsune had looked back from the one who'd grabbed her arm so. Well, now what was she to do? She couldn't go chasing after Keitaro right now, and right now she was playing her part in the fake-Keitaro's little setup so very well...

"...fine!" Kitsune said, struggling to compose herself, but her natural talents for putting on a face and a facade compensated for her general mental disarray. "But you're paying for this, _sweetie!_"

"Well, at least you're not calling me 'Haitani' this time! Must not be in that much trouble!" and now Kitsune knew the man's name, even as he tried to link arms with her and gesture down a path they could take to someplace they could likely talk. "Shall we-UH!"

She might not have a trigger as hair-thin and light as Naru's, and really Kitsune didn't mind linking arms, especially given the circumstances of the role she'd been impromptu-asked to take up. However – as the fox brought her elbow out of Haitani's gut – she felt a little less frustrated at being yelled at moments before by him; she didn't let her sort-of-boyfriends talk to her that way, she wasn't about to let this guy do it!

"Now I am, _Haitani,_" she huffed, imagining Naru as she did so and began the appropriate storm-off. "You should _know_ better than to get sweet with me like that!"

Remarkably Haitani was on his feet and following her pretty quickly. Apparently Keitaro's friends were quite tough too...

* * *

It wasn't quite a bar, but the combination of stimulants and hydration – coffee and water – was still doing wonders for her nerves. The small coffee shop was quiet enough for them – herself and her new 'friend' Haitani – to sit and talk for a while without much hassle, though since they'd gotten there they hadn't done a whole lot of talking. Mostly it'd been Kitsune either sipping her coffee or staring blankly into it, Haitani waiting patiently with his own cup and a smile that seemed to be a tiny bit lewd. Guy probably didn't get to spend much time with women, Kitsune figured... unless Keitaro...

Kitsune groaned, her headache quickly building, then shook her head to clear her thoughts. Why couldn't he have been Yakuza, or something relatively _normally_ interesting? Kitsune was aware enough to appreciate the irony of that thought, and to realize she hated karma something fierce now.

"So—" Haitani began, but he was cut off by a glare from the fox's single open eye, forcing him into silence once more...

Until Kitsune began anyway.

"Okay, Haitani, right?"

"That's my name, Miss—?"

"Kitsune."

"Ooh, fitting! So—"

"Foxy, yeah, heard it before, now quit trying _sweetie,_" Kitsune was basically grumbling and not at all tolerant of anything less than top-notch sweet-talking, which this boy clearly didn't have. "Talk; what was Keita—"

"Keiko."

"Sorry?"

"Kei_ko_. That's _her_ name," Haitani said, before taking another sip of his half-finished coffee. "Or Kei, like Shirai and—oh, right, Shirai is the other guy who was with us by the way. Yes, Shirai and I call her that, have for years. That way we don't accidentally slip up and say the wrong name at the wrong time."

Kitsune stared at the man – both eyes open – as it seemed that he was so... calm about this. That and the fact he was so frank about what her mind was currently _racing_ about. This felt off; Kitsune was not used to being the least-composed person in a discussion.

"He—"

"She."

"Kei! Kei looked like a _girl_!"

"Yes."

"...and?"

"And what?"

Kitsune couldn't help it as she grit her teeth at Haitani's nonchalance. She was _really_ off her game right now, and she didn't like that.

"So is Kei some sort of—"

"Ahahah!" Haitani interrupted, a finger up in front of her lips and a smile on his face, which was something that really didn't do much for her attitude right now. "You're cute – I mentioned that already right? If not you really are Miss Foxy! – but if the next words out of your mouth are 'tranny', 'pervert', 'fag', or anything like that, I promise you that as cute as you are you're not cute enough to call my best lady-friend anything so insulting and presumptuous, understood?"

"Sure..." Kitsune said after a moment, taking the not-so-subtle threat seriously as she moved the finger from her face. "But what I was going to say was 'crossdresser'."

"Ah, okay... well, I guess technically she does. You should ask her for yourself, _privately_ and _quietly_ of course," Haitani explained, relaxing into his chair. "Hm, almost feels like a date doesn't it?"

"Hey, focus Casanova," Kitsune snapped her fingers to get his attention. "Tell me now, is Kei a guy or girl?"

"Hmm... it's complicated," Haitani replied with a smile.

"Oh don't give me that!"

"Well that's the best you're getting from me Foxy," Haitani polished off the rest of his coffee at that point and began to stand. "Besides, I learned a long time ago that really it doesn't matter; Kei is still Kei, though I do admit she's a lot cuter now than she used to be!"

"Uh... are you two, you know...?" Kitsune held up a pinky finger as she observed Haitani's reaction, which surprisingly was but a laugh and a dismissive wave of his hand. "That other guy, Shirai then?"

"Geez, you're nosy aren't you?" Haitani commented, to the glaring response from the vulpine woman. "Seriously, just talk to Kei; listen to her, be respectful, and she'll be more than happy to answer your questions. Just don't tell anyone about what you saw earlier okay? She's not ready yet, and if you don't believe me, ask yourself how the other girls at that dorm will react if they find out about Kei's 'secret'."

Kitsune visibly flinched at the thought; Naru and Motoko were bad now after the overwhelmingly poor timing of her initial stunt with Naru's panties, if she told them about this... Kei would be a dead man... woman... Kei'd be a goner, whatever. Not to mention she wasn't entirely sure how Haruka would act, and while she wasn't worried about Su – strange little girl she was – Shinobu though... what would this do to her now in her formative years?

Much as she loved a good gossipy tidbit, she had to keep this one to herself.

"Awesome! Glad to meet you Kitsune, I'll be sure to get your number from Kei later and give you a call!" he said as he grabbed his bag. "I'm so glad we had this talk, and I'm even more glad you're one of the ones with some sense to them! I'd love to stay and chat some more but I have to get to class and—where are you going?"

Kitsune had quickly downed the rest of her coffee and stood, quickly heading for the front counter. She glanced back with one of her more vulpine grins and a chuckle.

"Didn't you say it's like a date? What sort of date would it be if I didn't get something sweet to eat?" she stated, and with another laugh continued. "On your dime of course; you're the one who brought me here, _sweetie_."

The temporary vengeance was sweet to Kitsune, particularly with icing and a strong honey taste to it. It was fleeting though, as Haitani paid their tabs she was again faced with her own thoughts, and something close to nine hours or so before she could address the primary focus of her thoughts.

Yeah, today was not going to be a particularly fun day for the fox.

* * *

The tick-tocking of the clock was at this point deafening to the sensitive ears of the vulpine temptress. Her day had been terrifyingly slow to pass, being caustically aware of every meager minute that passed throughout the day. Walking around town didn't help first, though considering that some of her indulgences were beginning to settle on her hips more the walking was not without merit. So she figured she'd stop somewhere for lunch, which usually would have been a free endeavor once she'd found someone to flirt with and get a meal out of, but with her mind as it was she didn't even bother. She was then reminded of how much her 'tastes' could cost her, and what her 'dates' usually spent on her.

It was a direct trip back to Hinata after that, as Kitsune was not about to let her distracted mind lower the contents of her wallet unnecessarily. Besides, the sake at home was cheaper than it was at any bar or restaurant. The train ride back gave her ample time to think, so much so and so deeply that she nearly missed her stop. The walk back through town and up the stairs to the dorm – briefly pausing at the spot where she'd seen Keitaro pull the bag out of the hidden passage – similarly did not free the fox from her thoughts. Even television and a bottle of sake – a favorite pastime when the other residents were not very entertaining – seemed to be of little enjoyment, bringing her to the moment she found herself in now, her mind going back to this morning.

Kei... ko... the long hair, no glasses, and slim legs... there had been breasts apparent too, A-cup, B-cup at the largest Kitsune figured. The outfit otherwise didn't really emphasize any other feminine curves, and now that she thought about it the hair had to be a wig, as it was easier to put on a longer wig than to stuff long hair inside a short-hair wig. Contacts had to be obvious choices without the glasses, unless the glasses themselves were props in the first place. She couldn't really remember any other details, except for the voice she'd heard, which certainly was not the same voice Keitaro usually spoke with. Higher pitch, not as projected, not as deep or resonant, but there was still some of that there...

"Ah hell..." she exclaimed as she fell back upon the couch, now staring at the ceiling. "I hate waiting..."

After a moment she was up like a shot, off the couch and onto her feet. The hidden passage from before! She'd gone past it in something of a daze earlier, but she had plenty of time to go down there and have a look around. After all, Kei wasn't going to be there for _hours_, not to mention that it might answer some of the questions that Haitani earlier either didn't address or outright refused to. She couldn't have gotten her shoes on and have been out the door any faster if she was running out of a burning building.

Down the steps with haste she went before stepping off the path and making her way to the one spot on the hill she'd seen Kei at before. There had to be more there than that bag, she figured; there was no way that this was a one-and-done sort of thing! Finding the means of opening the hidden hatch was an issue all it's own, since the entire thing looked like a grass-covered part of the hillside. It'd take her a couple of minutes, and a fair amount of swearing, but eventually her fingers hooked something, and with a pull she felt the hillside shift, a smirk spreading across her features as she...

As she...

Kitsune stopped for a moment, glancing down at her hands, which had become soiled by the earth as she'd been searching. Perhaps because of the morning's events and the mess of thought she'd been in all day, but Kitsune actually asked herself just what the _hell_ was she doing?! Snooping around Kei's room – because she was frustrated – was what started the whole 'pervert' thing with Naru and Motoko, something that would probably irritate that guy Haitani if he found out what the girls were doing to Kei. Snooping and tailing Kei – because her curiosity got the best of her – was what had started the whole mess today, and as she recalled Kei's reaction to Kitsune standing behind her...

Now what was she about to do, snoop around Kei's stuff some more, because she was _bored_ and _impatient_? If her life was simply part of a story, the dirt upon her hands might have stood for something metaphorical or karmic, but for Kitsune in that moment it was a true reflection of her hand in the recent events with Kei. With a sigh, she released the hatch handle, and with a flop she was laying atop the hatch opening, shutting it under her weight while she looked to the clear sky above. This was the first time in a very long time that Mitsune Konno had felt guilt, and it'd been even longer since she felt a sense of shame. She hoped it wasn't about to become a regular thing.

Now she felt tired, perhaps because of the clean air out here, or the scent of trees and nature around her. Or, just maybe, it was because of the significant quantity of sake she'd gone through earlier. Any which way, tired was good, because a nap made for an excellent way to pass the time...

* * *

The tick-tocking of the clock signaled naught but impending doom to Kei's ears. How hadn't she noticed Kitsune before the incident this morning?! She was usually so careful not to be noticed or followed, and in fact this had _never_ happened before! If Haitani hadn't acted so quickly... Kei really didn't want to think about it. Shirai had helped her out of there too; Kei honestly didn't think she'd have moved without him coaxing her along, and certainly wouldn't have gotten to school after that. Her voice seemed immovably trapped in her throat all day, only managing a quiet 'thank you' after Haitani had shown up late to class and assumed his normal seat next to her, Shirai on her other side.

She put her eyes down, picked up her pen, and pretended to pay attention so as to not draw attention to herself. Pretending it was, as she couldn't focus on anything the teacher was saying what with the endless string of catastrophic thoughts and anxious what-ifs going through her mind. If Kitsune told Naru and Motoko then everything was over with her life. Her parents would find out, Aunt Haruka and Grandma Hina too, and she wasn't ready for all of that, especially not all at once! Only people she'd explained things to were her two friends sitting next to her, and she was already risking things with Naru being in the same class as her. She'd need to think up a new excuse for why 'Keitaro' wasn't in class; she saw Naru glancing back now and then trying to find 'him,' and if she didn't have a more permanent solution then her figuring it out was inevitable.

Lunch was eaten in silence away from the crowds with just her two friends, in part because she didn't need Naru recognizing the bento Shinobu had made her the night before. Mostly though it was because she didn't want eyes on her right now; it was hard enough to keep from crying at the moment without all the fear and anxiety about someone noticing too much about her added in. Shirai and Haitani tried to encourage her and ease her fears, and she tried to take their words to heart, really she did, but it really wasn't helping all that much. Lunch was quick, but the second half of the day dragged itself out longer and longer and _longer_ it seemed. Kei eventually just locked her eyes on the clock at the front of the room, each little movement of the second hand noted in agonizing detail. She needed to get out of here, needed to find Kitsune and set things straight and _plead_ for her not to tell anyone.

Soon as the second hand hit the minute for their release – before the bell had even gone off – Kei was up and out of her seat and tearing out the door. Shirai and Haitani had to work to scramble after her, hesitant to call out to her since she'd explained Naru's presence in the class the day before. They really didn't need to push their luck after this morning's incident. Luckily, Haitani and Shirai were faster than Kei, who was trying to be careful that she didn't have her skirt come up too high, or knock something loose like her wig that would ruin things. The friendly duo caught up with Kei right outside the school, quickly meeting more of a normal – if a tad hurried – pace. Once they got a safe enough distance, it was time for their usual routine:

"Alright Kei, this one looks good," Haitani said after glancing around, backing up towards the men's bathroom nearby. "I'll make sure it's clear."

Keitaro nodded as Shirai kept an eye on the street, watching for more people that might be coming their way as Haitani ducked into the bathroom. Shirai and Kei simply looked like they were waiting for a friend there, Shirai on the side closer to the restroom and Kei with her head down so people would see less of her face. It took a couple of minutes, one or two people going into the restroom, a couple coming out, but finally Haitani opened the door and gave the okay for them to come in, and when there were no eyes facing them, Shirai sent Kei inside first, quickly, before coming in immediately after. He snuck the fake 'Out of Order' sign from his bag and placed it properly on the door's handle before shutting it and pressing up against the opposite side of the door to keep it shut, glancing to Haitani who had taken his spot on the outside of the stall Kei had just gone into to change. No issues this time, they'd made doubly sure of it.

"You sure you don't want us to come back with you?" Haitani asked Kei from the other side of the stall door. "I know how hard it was for you to talk to just us, and you'd known us for _years_."

"I'll... I'll be fine," Kei responded, at most half-believing what she was saying.

"You know he just wants to hit on her some more, right?" Shirai commented with a smile, hoping that it'd be contagious to their friend.

"Hey, like you wouldn't want to talk to her too!" Haitani exclaimed defensively before remembering something. "Oh, Kei, can I get Miss Foxy's number from you if things go well?"

"I don't think that's a good idea Haitani..."

"Yeah, if she didn't drain your wallet the other girls at Kei's dorm would probably maul you for 'corrupting' her," Shirai added, bemusedly chuckling at the thought. "The irony is palpable."

"She's really not that bad you guys," Kei interjected quietly. "She has good points, and I can tell she cares for the other girls, especially Naru."

The stall opened after the couple minutes of changing, and there stood Kei, short hair, men's clothing, no breasts. Haitani stepped back and with a bow and a smile gestured towards the sink, bringing a brief smile to Kei's face as 'he' went about the usual process of removing the makeup on 'his' face. It always amazed Haitani as he watched Kei pull out a number of bottles, tissues, and containers, all for the express purpose of removing a little bit of makeup on his friends' face. He watched as Kei started with the eyes – always started with the eyes – and with a tissue and a bit of eye makeup remover quickly removed mascara, eyeliner, eyeshadow, and whatever else there was since really Haitani only had a passing familiarity with the stuff from watching Kei use it. Next the lips, a tissue and another bottle, then a face wash for the rest of the stuff on the cheeks, followed with a moisturizer because apparently makeup dried out your skin...

Haitani had watched Kei do this for quite some time now, during all the years of cram school, and before that when they'd leave their high school and spend time together for awhile. It was... uncomfortable and odd to watch at first, Haitani had to admit, but over time it just became another thing that Kei did that he and Shirai helped out with. Personally Haitani wished that Kei didn't _have_ to do this; he wished Kei could just come looking all cute from home and didn't have to be so sneaky about things. Still, he understood why Kei couldn't do that, and knew that 'he' had good reason for doing what 'he' did. Shirai too had reached a similar understanding regarding Kei; both of them had seen the problems their friend faced over the years.

Once the makeup was gone, complete with the contacts that followed so that Kei could put the glasses 'he' usually wore back on, there was coughing followed by drinking quite a bit of water from the remaining bottle as Kei tried to clear 'his' throat. It was a tad straining for Kei to talk at a higher pitch than 'his' normal voice all day, even if there hadn't been a whole lot of talking, and supposedly clearing your throat and coughing were not as good as drinking water to clear one's throat. Kei had said before that it was hard to not cough at times after a day like today; stress was not good for being prepared to respond in one's feminine voice.

"You good, Kei?" Shirai asked, having not moved from his spot against the stall yet.

"I..." Kei's voice sounded a little raspy, so Shirai watched 'him' down some more water and start again. "Yeah, I think I'm good. Enough anyway."

The other thing Haitani and Shirai had found useful about seeing Kei do this: it helped them mentally prepare themselves for addressing their friend properly, watching the transformation from physically looking like a guy to a girl and vice versa. Haitani still found himself having to put mental effort in to switch pronouns, which he'd been doing as he watched Kei this whole time. 'He,' 'him,' 'his'... all part of an unfortunate process.

"Alright, let's get moving," Shirai said, and cracked open the door enough to retrieve the sign he'd put up. "Should be in the clear, let's go."

Haitani watched Kei nod, take a deep breath, and then quickly grab his bags and make for the door. Once they were outside, it was as if nothing had transpired, except for Keitaro's obvious concern about his discussion to come.

"You are absolutely sure you don't want us to come with you?" Haitani asked, and then cut Shirai's quip off. "Not because I want to see Miss Foxy again or anything."

"Yeah, it's not a good idea for you to come there," Keitaro responded, nervously grinning. "Two of them might hurt you for, uh, being men. They already don't like me there."

"Remember what I said about irony before? Applies now too," Shirai quipped, before giving Keitaro a smack on the back. "I'm sure the conversation will go well; I have full faith in you Kei!"

"Hope so..."

"Know so!" Haitani added, repeating the back-slap a bit harder than Shirai "Station's not far, but Shirai and I have to get walking; Foxy used up the money for my ticket today so... yeah, got a trip to make."

"And I have to come with you _why_?"

"We're gonna stop for the new releases on the way back!"

"Oh right! I almost forgot that was today!"

"Uh, couldn't you just wait and buy that later so you can use the train?" Keitaro inquired, and was met with passionate, almost proud looks on both of his friends' faces.

"You wouldn't understand!"

"Virtual maidens await rescue at our hands; you ask us to leave them for the claws of some unscrupulous brute to handle? I think not!"

"Okay okay!" Keitaro backed down, and physically backed up as well. "I'll, uh, see you tomorrow?"

Nods and thumbs up, and the trio parted ways. Keitaro all by his lonesome as he made his way to the train and headed back to Hinata.

* * *

"—tsune. Kitsune. Wake up, please."

The aforementioned woman found herself being gently shaken awake. She scrunched up her eyes at the bright light above, wondering who upped the wattage of the living room lights. Took the fox a few moments to realize she was outside, having taken a sake-aided nap on the hillside of Hinata, having been waiting for—

"Kei?" Kitsune managed, her voice a little dry as she sat up to see her smiling manager's face "That was a good nap... we need to talk."

"Honestly, I kind of was hoping you'd think it was all a dream," Keitaro responded nervously. "No luck huh?"

"I'm waking up, stud, not delusional," Kitsune responded, rubbing her eyes and moving off of the hidden passageway. "In case you're wondering: no, I didn't look inside... can't say I didn't think about it though."

"Ah, well... thanks, Kitsune, but," Keitaro popped open the hatch, revealing nothing except the passageway leading towards Hinata. "There was nothing to see here anyway. It was just a place to grab it without..."

"So I wouldn't see it again," Kitsune finished, frowning a bit. "Figured that part."

"Yeah..."

Keitaro slid the bag in some distance before shutting the passage again, sitting down on it next to Kitsune after that. Then came silence, awkward and uncomfortable silence. Awkward and uncomfortable for them both, one because it was the calm before, the other because she just didn't like the quiet all that much. Who would break it first was obvious.

"Okay, sugar, what did I see this morning?"

Kei didn't answer immediately, but did eventually answer.

"You saw me. Dressed... differently."

"Like a woman."

"Y-Yeah, like a woman. You know, instead of how I dress around everyone here," Keitaro followed up, quite visibly uncomfortable, but continuing nonetheless. "You won't have to worry about me dressing like that here—"

"Kei, _why_ were you dressed like a girl?" Kitsune cut in, an eye open to observe his reaction. "That's the only thing I want to know right now."

Silence again, briefer this time.

"You, uh, ever heard of the term 'transgender' before?" Keitaro asked, getting a nod, then continuing. "Well... I am transgender."

And yet again, silence as that sank in for Kitsune.

"Okay, I ain't exactly... can you explain it a bit more?" Kitsune asked, shaking her head. "You have gone past my area of expertise at this point."

"Um... it's a little complicated, but the short version is easy enough," Kei prefaced, pulling his knees up to his chest. "Basically what it means is that my body and my mind – my identity – are different. So what you see is... obvious, but what's in my head is, well, what you saw earlier. That's who I identify as, who I _really_ am."

"But... your body is male?" Kitsune asked, and with a twitch of the nervous smile on Keitaro's face he nodded. "But you think you're supposed to be a girl?"

"It's a bit more like," Kei thought for a moment, then found a good example. "Imagine if they took your brain and put it in my body. You'd still be you, Mitsune Konno, female resident of Hinata All Girls Dorm, but the body you see, the way you feel and move, would be wrong. You'd absolutely know without a doubt that you're female, that that's what you're supposed to be, but the body you're stuck in—"

"How long have you felt this way?"

"Oh, uh, well, I can't really—honestly I can't think of a time where I haven't felt this way," Keitaro explained, forcing more of a sad smile. "When I was a child, I used to ask for pretty dresses, and wanted my hair long, and never really saw what was 'cool' with action figures. I'd always say I was a girl when they called me a boy; I knew the difference and what I was back when I was five even. They kept correcting me, forcing me to wear and do boy stuff, do boy things, keep short hair, and eventually I tried to be the 'boy' they were telling me to be."

Keitaro chuckled a bit, but Kitsune could tell the laughter was there to keep Kei from tearing up.

"Problem is, you can't make someone be something that they know with every fiber of their being that they're not," Keitaro explained, scratching his cheek nervously again. "I tried being a boy, but as I grew up all of the hair looked disgusting on me, my broad shoulders and chest were just wrong, my voice wasn't supposed to get so deep, or my cheekbones this masculine. I _prayed_ for hips, for breasts, for my voice to get higher, my shoulders narrower, my feet smaller, for my lips and eyes to look pretty... but everything was wrong, and it seemed my body was betraying me."

For Kitsune this was starting to get pretty deep. Keitaro wasn't someone that she pegged for this sort of downer attitude; he was always smiling, happy, a little shy and anxious at times, but he always seemed so positive! This was a side of Keitaro that the fox had not been expecting for a vast number of reasons.

"Sugar, Kei, why all the secrecy?"

"...most people don't understand people like me. My parents don't, classmates don't, strangers certainly don't. People think we're drag queens, call us fags, or that we get off on dressing like girls, call us... perverts," Kitsune visibly cringed at that word, recalling just how much Naru and Motoko had been calling Keitaro that over the duration of his living there. "They think that we're out to trick straight men into our beds, or molest kids, or to sneak in the women's restroom and peek at them, all because they see a 'man dressed like a woman,' a 'transvestite' at best, and frankly they'd agree with Motoko: all men are perverts. Sometimes... people try and hurt us, or kill us, just because we're trying to be who we are."

Another nervous chuckle, again just so Kei could manage to keep himself together, or so it seemed.

"Sorry, I don't' mean for this to be so depressing for you," he apologized, something that again struck that newfound guilt hidden in Kitsune's heart after her own actions. "But I had to do something to start becoming who I'm supposed to be, in secret anyway, so in high school Shirai and Haitani agreed to help me. We would spend the afternoons out at cafes or the library or other places after I'd dressed like a girl. First times didn't go so well, but I learned more about how to mask my features with makeup, how to make myself seem more feminine with clothes to my form. I saved up and bought more clothes, a high-quality wig, breast-forms – fake breast inserts you can put into bras – and after the years I think I'm doing an okay job... right?"

"Ah, well sugar, I can say I didn't immediately recognize you. If it weren't for your friends, and that bag, well..." Kitsune responded with a shrug, feeling odd talking about such a thing as a compliment. "This is a _lot_ to take in..."

"Sorry, but if it helps, well, just think of me as a girl stuck in a man's body, trying to find a way to break out of it and make my outside match what's inside," Kei stated, trying to be helpful. "Not that you'll really notice much, since I won't be dressing like that here. I'm still the same person after all."

Oddly enough, that made quite a bit of sense to Kitsune, but that still didn't make this new information any easier to take in.

"By the way, you're not going to tell anyone... right?" Keitaro asked, a question that Kitsune had been waiting to hear this entire time. "You're the third person I've told and, well, I already told you why I—"

"I won't say anything," Kitsune cut in, leaning back onto the grass, rubbing her eyes. "I ain't above being manipulative, but I ain't some malicious, malevolent bitch; I don't do stuff that would _really_ hurt people... intentionally anyway, which reminds me—"

"I know, you don't have to say it," Keitaro interrupted, smiling. "Those panties Naru found didn't magically appear after all. I know you didn't mean for it to go where it went though."

And there it was again, that guilt in full-force in Kitsune's gut, causing her to groan.

"You're too nice for your own good," she grumbled, turning to face away from him. "I think you owe me a bottle of sake for the headache you've given me."

Keitaro didn't say anything, but she heard the laugh and somehow she knew things were going to be fine. She was feeling less guilty, and Keitaro seemed to have his mind cleared up from the concerns that Kitsune had inadvertently caused. Keitaro stood, brushing the dirt and grass off of himself before offering Kitsune a hand up. After a sigh, the fox took the hand up and got to her feet, noting that her time laying out there had put grass stains into her clothes. Great, now she had to get these washed quickly.

"We should head on up," Keitaro suggested quietly. "Shinobu will be worried if we're not there for dinner."

"Yeah, you head on up, I'll come in from Haruka's teahouse," Kitsune stated, and explained when Keitaro gave her a confused look. "You and me walking up, Naru sees us, I have grass stains and dirt over me, you have some dirt on you—"

"She punches me into the front yard again," Keitaro finished, nodding his head as he backed up. "Right, thanks Kitsune! See you at dinner!"

Kitsune watched as Keitaro quickly made his way up the stairs, waiting until he was out of sight before she sat back down on the hill, sighing and pulling her knees to her chest as Keitaro had before. Keitaro had just become a lot more interesting, that was certain, but it wasn't quite the happy-go-lucky she was hoping for. Honestly though, after talking with Kei, Kitsune found herself wanting to know more about her manager, about what he, no, _she_ was going through. And, perhaps maybe, just maybe, she was wondering what she could do to help out...

* * *

_**End Chapter 2**_

* * *

_AN: Well I hope you all liked it! One clarifying note from here on out: pronouns for Kei will be switching around, using male pronouns (he, his, him, etc) for when Kei is appearing as Keitaro, and female pronouns (she, her, etc.) for when Kei is appearing as Keiko. If it's in quotes (e.g. 'she') then it's denoting mental effort (such as above with Haitani's thoughts), or spoken-word emphasis. Consider this a brief primer of what is to come. Also I plan to have the other girls play more active or prominent roles at this point now that things have been established, so you can look forward to seeing the cast in greater number!_

_I encourage reviews for feedback, and I hope you all like this story so far! If you have any questions as to the topic matter please feel free to PM, but mind you I will not answer 'change the premise' questions about Kei being transgender. Anyway, until next time!_

_**A.W.R II**_


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Love Hina and make no profit from this work.

_AN: Hooray, more reviews with some excellent feedback! Speaking of which, I do wish to provide some insight on why the portrayal of transgender issues thus far is fairly Westernized:_

_First off, I am from the West, and when you write you tend to write what you know, and naturally it's my own awareness of transgender issues in my country that gave me inspiration for this fanfiction idea (that and re-reading the series again). As such I wanted to include at LEAST elements of the issues facing transgender individuals in Western nations like mine. However I don't plan for it to be the ONLY perspective shown in the story; I plan to introduce and include elements of Japan's views on transgender and LGBT issues, the specifics of 'how' and 'when' to remain unspoiled. I feel that while it makes the story less setting/culture accurate, it will alternatively make for a better, more dramatic and varied story in the long run, and with continued feedback I plan to ensure the quality of the story only improves!_

_So thank you again for the feedback via reviews, and I hope you will all continue to enjoy and review my story!_

_Credits:_

_overmind2000 – Beta Reader/Production Assistant_

_The Compendium of Steve – Quality Assurance Consultant_

* * *

_**Love Hina: Changes**_

_**Chapter 3**_

* * *

Since the day Kitsune and Kei had talked, it seemed that little had changed for the Hinata Girls Dorm: Naru spent her time either at school, studying, or punishing Keitaro for incidents that were (almost) always outside of his control. Motoko did much the same, though she also had daily swordsmanship training and her kendo club to attend. Shinobu and Su had about the same schedules, only where Shinobu was helping with cleaning and cooking, it seemed Su was instead creating mechanical abominations and threatening to destroy the very home they lived in in her 'playfulness'. Keitaro had had no incidents of note, outside of the nearly daily accusations of his perversion largely based on insubstantial evidence or poor circumstance. And Kitsune...

Well, perhaps something _had_ changed; Naru had noticed that something had odd with Kitsune for a couple of weeks now, but the fox wasn't giving any hints as to just what had changed. To the bespectacled brunette Kitsune had seemed almost subdued, not her usual mischievous self at all. Her drinking, gambling, and drunken gambling – a favorite – had decreased notably, and before where the fox had been more flirty she seemed to only go for the low-hanging fruit as it were, not putting the usual effort into it. Even the dates she usually went on had gone down, which while Naru considered that a positive improvement it was still unusual for the resident fox to not be going out and enjoying herself and her indulgences.

Naru needed to get to the bottom of this! After all, it's possible that Keitaro had done something to her and _that_ was why she was behaving so odd! Oh if he had, she'd _really_ lay into him this next time; she'd been going easy on him as of late, but since the supposed accidents kept happening, it was about time for her to step it up. Now, if she knew her high school friend at all, she was probably in her room right now 'writing'. Naru honestly wasn't sure how Kitsune got her money for rent most months; she'd never actually _seen_ her write anything as a freelance journalist.

It used to be she'd just jump down the hole in her room, walk out of the manager's room and go right next door to Kitsune's room. Now of course they had a so-called manager, so she couldn't do that anymore. Once she finally got to Kitsune's room she opened her door, not bothering to knock as was all too common for the girls of Hinata, and to her surprise rather than seeing her friend with a bottle of sake she found her with a computer in her lap...

"Kitsune, are you writing something?" Naru asked, still quite surprised to see her friend so out of character. "I've never actually seen you writing before."

"Heh, that's 'cause I do my best work at night." the fox responded with a grin, carefully shutting the laptop and setting it aside. "Need something Naru?"

"Oh, yeah, can we talk for a bit?"

"Hm, sure, I got some time. What's up?" Kitsune inquired as Naru came in, shutting the door behind her and having a seat across from her kotatsu.

"Is everything alright?"

"Ah hell, this again?" Kitsune visibly sighed as she scooted up to the kotatsu and leaned forward, elbows resting on the table and her head in her hands. "You keep asking me, and I keep telling you that everything is fine."

"But it's not! You're not acting like yourself!" Naru insisted, she too leaning forward after pushing her glasses further up her nose. "I'm worried about you, and you've been acting like this for almost a month now!"

"Oi, really, Naru, everything _is fine_," she repeated, sighing again. "I promise I would have _told you_ if something wasn't."

Naru didn't budge, but did cross her arms across her chest in an attempt to look more stern. Didn't really work on Kitsune but it was a good try anyway.

"Kitsune, what day of the week is it?"

"Friday. What does—"

"It's Friday _night_. Your 'date night'," Naru expounded, sitting up straight. "Normally every Friday is a date night with some guy you recently met, then Saturday is a party night out, and Sunday is the day you spend recovering in your room. Last time you had a 'normal weekend' for you was right before everyone started going back to school again"

Kitsune wasn't exactly sure how she felt about that description of her 'usual' weekend activities. It almost made her sound like she had some sort of problem, which she certainly didn't.

"You know, most people would consider the change an improvement in my lifestyle, Naru," Kitsune replied. "Is it so hard to believe I just haven't felt like going out recently?"

"It would, back when you were still playing around with that _pervert,_" Naru continued, unaware of the subtle twitch in Kitsune's features at the buzzword Naru liked tossing around as of late. "I figured he'd become your little plaything for a while and you'd go back to normal once you were tired of him. But now, not only are you done with him, but you're not even drinking or gambling like you used to on top of everything else!"

The twitch of the fox's face was not so subtle this time, but in her exposition Naru still hadn't noticed the effect her words were having on her best friend.

"Kitsune, did that _pervert_—" Naru tried to ask, but the echoing sound of Kitsune's hand against the wooden kotatsu made Naru jump with shock. "Ow! Kitsune!"

"_Kei_. That is his name. Not 'idiot,' not 'fool,' and _definitely_ not 'pervert'," Kitsune stated, her tone stern, firm, and her eyes open staring right into Naru's. "And no, he didn't do shit to me; Kei is harmless, and I ain't exactly some damsel in distress anyhow."

This was plenty to start ruffling Naru's feathers. Her body immediately tensed up, her face twisted into a frown. Kitsune's face in contrast was like a mask of thin lines and stern features, far less the visible barometer of irritation and fury that Naru's face was.

"What's your problem?! Why are you sticking up for that guy?"

"Uh, 'cause you an' Motoko both seem to have it in your heads that he's some kind of predator or something?" the sarcasm in Kitsune's voice was palpable, even to Naru. "Seriously, both y'all need to chill out."

"Chill out?! He keeps trying to peek on us in the bath and in our rooms!"

"Like when you walk in on him cleaning the bath 'cause you felt like bathing at some odd hour? Or when you tell him there's something that needs to be fixed in Shinobu's room but forget to tell _her_ that he's going to be there?"

"He can still knock!"

"Yeah, but you didn't exactly knock when you came in here now did you?"

"You... you're putting me on the same level as some _pervert?!_"

"NO! What _I_ am saying, Naru Narusegawa, is you decided a _long_ time ago that Keitaro was a pervert and have just been looking for excuses to make him look like one in your eyes!" Kitsune finally shouted, though her well-practiced mask still didn't show the same wrath as Naru's unmitigated expression did. "I don't understand what your problem is with him anyway! Even before that panty incident you thought he was a pervert! At least Motoko just outright hates men, but you never even talked to one really, and I should know because you made _me_ turn down every one that had any sort of interest in you so you didn't _have_ to!"

"How dare—I just—" at that point Naru just let out a scream in frustration, shot up from her seat, and stormed out the door, not even bothering to slam it behind her.

It wasn't until the thunderous one-woman stampede that was Naru had hit the stairs that Kitsune had launched her final parting words:

"DO YOU HONESTLY THINK HE'D BE SO _STUPID_ AS TO LEAVE PANTIES OUT AFTER INVITING YOU INTO HIS ROOM TO STUDY?! AND WHO TOLD YOU TO GO TO HIS ROOM ANYWAY?!"

The screaming from Kitsune – whom Naru had never heard get so loud in all the years of knowing her – was punctuated by the slam of the fox-woman's door. Naru was utterly seething at this point, more mad at her friend now than any and all times they'd had a 'spat' before. She had half a mind to go back down there and... and...

No, _fuck that_; Naru had studying to do so that she could get into Toudai, unlike a certain fox who hadn't bothered to do anything constructive with her life! Naru's door – slammed just a little bit louder than Kitsune's – punctuated their shouting match and left the dorm in utter silence for the night.

* * *

"As much as it pains me to admit it," Motoko began, a most serious expression upon her face. "I find myself having to... ask for your help, Urashima."

She watched as the male blinked, seemingly confused, but Motoko bit her tongue to hold back the caustic remark that came to mind. The swordsmistress – after nearly an hour of careful contemplation – did in fact need his assistance in a matter, and it was not polite to insult those you would ask for help. Even if it was one of those vile males.

"Wait, you need _my_ help?"

"Yes, and it concerns this weekend," Motoko continued, trying to ignore how his incredulousness irked her sensibilities. "My kendo club is having a weekend-long training camp, and as the captain I would be remiss to not attend. However this means that I am unable to attend to my duties here at Hinata, most notably ensuring that the doors are locked up at night, and more importantly taking care of Kaolla."

"Come again? Taking care of Su?"

"Yes. Kaolla is the sort to attach herself to someone here at the dorm, as Konno once explained it," Motoko expounded. "She is a very active young girl living far away from home. To avoid feeling lonely she directs her time and attention to one person in particular, of which this person was Konno first, and then myself after I moved in. As I will be gone, she will need another to direct her attention to in my stead. Normally I would ask Konno or Narusegawa, but after their... altercation the night before last—"

Keitaro immediately felt down; he had been in his room that night, and had heard every word between them. While Keitaro didn't like what Naru called him all the time, and likewise appreciated Kitsune all the more for standing up for him, Kei _really_ didn't think that he was worth them getting into a fight over. They were best friends after all, and who was he?

"—and subsequent behavior in the following days, it would seem that their emotional state would not be conducive to taking care of Kaolla at this time," Motoko finished, the line of her lips twitching ever so slightly. "As such I am forced to ask for you to take care of her."

"Um, okay... what does 'taking care of Su' include, to be specific?"

"I believe an adequate term for Kaolla's comprehension is that you are her 'playmate'," Motoko finished and then leered at the manager, who seemed to lean back from her. "Clear your mind of any unsavory thoughts now, Urashima! If I hear one word of inappropriate behaviors occurring with Kaolla, it will be the end of your lechery for good!"

Keitaro simply nodded, eyes flicking to the sword at Motoko's hip and back to her gaze as it softened.

"I assure you I only entertain this notion with you for the daylight hours; Kaolla does not like to sleep alone, but she shall not sleep anywhere close to you!" there was no rebuttal from Keitaro, so Motoko continued. "I would suggest Konno for that duty, as she has experience with her at night."

"Understood."

And then silence. Motoko had expected more resistance from the male, or signs of ill intention wrought from perversion, but she was not about to second guess this if it expedited the conversation.

"Very well. I expect Kaolla and Hinata to be in the same shape as I left them when I arrive back from my trip Sunday, and if not I assure you justice will be swift," Motoko stated, ending with a swift turn on her heel and heading down the hallway away from the male.

"O-Okay. Have a good trip, Motoko!" Keitaro called to her as she rounded the corner, having given her distance before he spoke again.

Motoko did not respond, but she at least acknowledged the sincerity of the male's well wishes for her travels.

* * *

Motoko had gone, and whether Keitaro had planned it or not Su had gravitated to him immediately. It was a subtle start, what with Su simply walking over, taking hold of his sleeve, and smiling up at him. It quickly escalated as he began to head down the hallway with Naru hot on his tail; Su's calm walking turned into skipping and then turned into climbing up Keitaro's body, wrapping her legs around his neck and hanging upside down against his back while waving to Naru trailing the manager all the way to his room. It hadn't even been two minutes since Motoko officially left and Su had already begun her normal energetic and impulsive behavior, only now it was Keitaro as the unfortunate victim.

Keitaro had studying he _really_ should be doing, but with Su already getting riled up that was looking next to impossible already. Thinking over things carefully – as Su seemed to be trying to choke him out from behind – Keitaro decided that studying could wait. He was Su's 'playmate' after all.

"S-AH! SU! SU!" Keitaro gasped out as Su righted herself, now sitting on his shoulders looking down at his head. "Whaddyawannado?!"

"Sorries! I can't understand ya!" was Su's response with a grin that reminded Kei of a certain fox-woman on the premise.

Struggling for air at the moment, Keitaro managed to loosen the girl's grip with her legs on his windpipe long enough to suck in a full breath and try again.

"What do you want to do, Su?!"

"Hm..." Su looked deep in thought for some time, all the while still latched to Kei's neck, the owner of said neck quickly watching his vision blur and brown out as his oxygen was depleting. "Oh! Let's play hide and seek! You seek first!"

Immediately Keitaro was free from the death grasp and quickly filled his lungs with sweet, _sweet_ life-fueling air, so relieved to be breathing again that he didn't even register Su's footsteps and playful cackling as she took off through the halls of Hinata. Once Keitaro could see and stand again, he was without a Su, but left with a Naru whom seemed far less miffed than expected.

"Which way did she—"

"Who knows?" Naru answered tersely, rolling her eyes. "At least with the way Su hides I don't have to worry about you doing anything to her for a while."

"Seriously, which way did she—" Kei found himself shutting up as Naru shot him another glare, but rather than yell this time she instead turned around and headed for the stairs so she could head up to her own room.

Leaving Keitaro with no lead on finding Su who had by this point quite a head start. Luckily from what he could tell from his explorations while looking for a good hiding spot for his feminine clothing, wig, and various beauty products, Su didn't know about any of the secret passages. This meant Keitaro had an advantage in terms of what he knew about Hinata's layout, so it wouldn't be that hard to find her, right?

Obvious spots first: kitchen, laundry room, rooftop, empty rooms, supply closet. He found Shinobu, several times in fact as she quickly went from one job to the next with a smile, but no Su. That was fine, as Keitaro didn't expect Su to be in such obvious spots. So then it was outside to no avail, then under part of the deck – again no such luck – and a final miss when he checked his own bath area. Keitaro was quickly realizing that Su and he hadn't exactly discussed the acceptable _boundaries_ for the game area; she could be hiding in the forest behind Hinata for all Keitaro knew, lost in the mountains. Then there was the chance Su _had _found a secret passageway or two, and that brought to mind _many_ more worries to Keitaro's mind. However, another thought struck Keitaro too:

She could be hiding in one of the other girls' rooms. Okay, this just got a lot more dangerous for Keitaro with Naru still here, which is why it was now time to enlist Mitsune's help. If anyone knew how to snoop around someone's room without leaving a trace, it would be her. Unfortunately, that would not come to pass; the response to the knock upon her door by the manager was one of severely inebriated slurring, followed by a loud snore a few moments later. Yup, Kitsune was out of commission too, and Kei _really_ didn't want to get found out going into the various girls' rooms. There had to be another place he _hadn't_ looked...

...he thought as he was walking right by the entrance to the outdoor bath a few minutes later. Well, it was one of the only places he hadn't checked, and if he was careful there wouldn't be any problems. Unless Naru was in there, which was always a possibility. Still, he needed to find Su, so he went ahead, took a deep breath, and called out to the changing area.

"Hello? Anyone in there?"

Kei got what could only be described as a squeak as a response. Shinobu was in the changing area it seemed.

"Shinobu? Are you decent?" Keitaro asked, just barely loud enough for Shinobu to hear him.

"Uh... n-no..."

"Ah, sorry to bother you!" Keitaro responded as he blushed a bit. "Um, have you gone into the bath yet? I'm playing hide and seek with Su and was hoping to check the bath quick."

"Oh, I haven't gotten in yet," Shinobu called out from the changing room, and continued after a quick thought. "I could look for her for you, if you want?"

"Would you? I get in trouble enough as it is going in just to clean," Kei asked, a sense of relief washing over him. "Thanks Shinobu, you're the greatest!"

He couldn't see the blushing, but he'd been around Shinobu enough to properly imagine her face right now with the compliment, complete with the most adorable little shy smile. She really was such a little cutie, and so domestically skilled at such a young age. She kind of reminded Kei of himself, or rather of _her_self, and how she had wanted to be at that age. By that point however, 'his' parents were well into the 'what you think doesn't matter; you're a boy so act like one' plan, so the girliest thing 'he' was able to do was to work the family business, which was a sweet shop and bakery. But only with 'his' father, as was often the case so that 'he' didn't become more confused than 'he' was.

Really, remembering all of that 'act like a man' nonsense from when Kei was younger was so depressing. Why couldn't they have just listened to _her_, and let _her_ be whom _she_ was supposed to be, not how _they_ demanded 'he' act for the sake of their reputation and skewed sense of familial honor? Kei wasn't angry with them, not anymore at least, but recalling it always put her in a dark place she didn't want to be, especially since it always seemed Kei was the one in the wrong, and that her insistences of her gender dysphoria were somehow a deliberate attempt to victimize and hurt the parental Urashimas.

Kei was roughly torn from his internal reverie by a scream coming from the bath. Shinobu! Kei threw caution to the wind and rushed into the changing area, then into the bath without hesitation. Naturally helpful, Kei wasn't about to hesitate regarding the consequences of heading into the bath right then; all that mattered was that Shinobu was okay!

"Shinobu!" he called as he came into the open air of the bath, spotting Shinobu – thankfully towel clad – sitting up at the edge of the bath and clutching her wrist against her chest tightly. "Are you okay?! Did you hurt yourself?! Let me see!"

He quickly put together that Shinobu had slipped and fallen next to the bath, likely hurting her hand on the landing. It clearly hurt; Kei could clearly see the tears in Shinobu's eyes, but at least there was no blood, no visible compound fracture, and it wasn't twisted in some maligned way. As someone once prone to clumsiness Kei knew a little about injuries from falls, which for the moment he was thankful for.

"Ow... I slipped, I-I landed on my wrist," Shinobu managed, more focused on her hurting hand than the situation that would likely embarrass her later. "It hurts."

"Let me see it, please?" Kei asked, calmly now as Shinobu brought her hand away from her chest, giving him the opportunity to check it, move it gently, watching as Shinobu responded to the pain of it. "Can you move it yourself?"

After a brief, careful attempt at moving her wrist, with but slight wincing on Shinobu's part, the dark-haired girl nodded that she could in fact move it.

"It still hurts a little..."

"It might for a little while, but you'll be fine, I promise," Keitaro said, moving to pat her head gently, mussing her hair slightly. "Nothing's broken and I doubt it's sprained, but it might be a bit bruised and sore for a little while."

Once he saw the little smile that said 'thank you' cross her features – giving the young girl a smile of his own back – he quickly stood back up and turned towards the entrance to the bath that he'd come in from. Shinobu might be a bit embarrassed about being seen in just a towel by him right then, considering her age and how shy she was already. Hence why now he was getting out of there before it registered to the younger girl.

"I'll head back inside; it's clear Su's not here," Keitaro stated as he began to calmly walk back inside. "I'll have myself or Naru check—"

Kei was going to finish with 'on your wrist later, after your bath,' but unfortunately it seemed that having mentioned Naru had summoned her to the entrance of the changing area right as he was entering it from the bath entrance. Kei froze immediately, as did Naru... until she saw the towel-clad Shinobu with tears in her eyes. For Kei it was like watching a match land on a trail of gasoline leading towards a massive tank with the perfect air-fuel ratio for a fireball.

"You—"

"Naru!"

"—PERVERT!" Naru screeched as she launched herself at Kei, bringing her leg around and driving her shin into his abdomen, winding Kei and sending him flying over the back fence into the forested mountains behind Hinata.

Luckily the branches broke his fall, as did the equally-lucky landing in somewhat soft dirt. Still didn't keep it from hurting, but honestly the kick and her screaming always hurt far worse than the landing ever did. That was going to leave a rather large bruise across his stomach, Kei was sure of that. As he was catching his breath, Keitaro looked up to see someone looking at him from the trees...

"You finally found me, Keitaro!" Su exclaimed excitedly, hanging upside-down from a nearby tree branch. "I was getting bored though, so now let's go through the trees like monkeys!"

Kei grunted with effort as he pried himself out of the hole his body had left in the ground, desperately trying to keep up with Su now that he'd finally found her. He just couldn't catch a break today!

* * *

Kitsune found herself waking up to knocking upon her door, knocking that was mimicking the knocking in her head at the moment. Perhaps she'd overdone it a little, but the sake had been quite good this time. More knocking, more groaning in frustration as she sat up, and with another round of knocking Kitsune finally got up, kicking the empty large bottle into the corner of the room with some of the others.

"A'ight, I hear ya…" she grumbled, glancing behind her at the darkness outside her window and opening the door the next moment. "People are sleeping… Kei?"

The form in front of Kitsune was in shambles, covered in dirt and sweat, and looked like he'd been sent through the ringer several times. Kei was utterly exhausted, and yet still was standing with the dark-skinned foreign resident of Hinata clinging tightly to his back like she was a backpack. Kei managed a smile that looked to be about as weak as his body was, and was able to point to the sleeping Su on his back with a shaky hand.

"She finally ran herself out. She's ready for bed…" Kei managed, and then the smile was gone about as quickly as his knees gave out, sending him – and thus Su – falling forward into Kitsune.

"Dammit!" Kitsune exclaimed as she caught the duo, swearing more under her breath as she realized that she couldn't keep them up for very long. "You better be glad I'm used to dealing with drunks!"

Gritting her teeth, Kitsune managed to haul them both over to her western-style bed, falling back against the bed and bringing Kei and Su with her. Sighing after the effort of dragging them both, Kitsune realized with some humor the awkwardness of her position: Kei was atop her, her legs spread and him between them, and his head had found it's way to her sizable bosom as a pillow. Add in Su on top and it would likely be a sight to send Naru into a bloody frenzy, and Kei unfortunately into a bloody pulp.

For Kitsune though, it was just heavy; she had a grown man and a teenage girl laying on her! Best she could do for the moment was shift so that it didn't bother her much and then wait it out, sighing again and glancing down at the sleeping head on her chest. Kei seemed so different when sleeping; awake and it was all smiles and tension, but asleep he was utterly relaxed, free of worry and the thoughts and feelings that plagued him. Quite a substantial difference really. Kitsune quickly snuck the glasses off of his face, lest they get broken as he slept head buried in her bosom for the moment, and it was then that she could more vividly see the woman she'd seen quite a long time ago. She hadn't seen Kei as Keiko since that first time, presumably because she – Kei – was more careful, and Kitsune was being less of a snoop into the manager's business.

Still, looking at Keitaro's face close up without his glasses, she couldn't help but notice what sort of changes would need to be made, what ridges and bone structure would make this more masculine face into something far more feminine and cute. It wouldn't require terribly much really, as Kei wasn't exactly a pinnacle physical specimen of masculinity in terms of looks, and especially not in his behavior. In a way, perhaps Kei was lucky with how he looked, imagining how much worse the dysphoria would be if he was physically big, burly, and prone to growing thick beards. After all, it hadn't been until she knew _exactly_ what she was looking at that she had recognized Keiko as Keitaro, which was quite a weird thought to have.

Speaking of thoughts, it hurt to think so hard with the pounding still going on in her head; it was time she too went to sleep. Wasn't the most comfortable position under a pile of bodies, but hell, only difference between this time and one or two others was the fact that everyone involved was still dressed! She wrapped one arm around Kei's head, the other around Su's, and still feeling the leftover effects of the sake was soon joining the other two in their rest with a smile on her face...

* * *

Motoko would be coming back that evening, and for that Keitaro was elated. Kitsune was too for that matter; as sweet as it was having the hard-working manager pass out in her arms and sleep on her chest so soundly the last two nights with a truly exhausted Su still clinging to him, it wasn't exactly the most comfortable way for Kitsune to get a night's rest. Su's occasional squeezes and grips in her sleep would make Kei cringe and groan atop her at night, often waking her up. Then there was the positioning and the weight of two bodies on her and all, just not the best idea to do more than on-occasion.

But for now, that was of little concern to the fox as she sat in the open-air bath, sipping sake with the bottle floating mostly-full nearby, relaxing as the hot water caressed her curvaceous nude body. Unlike some of the other girls, Kitsune never really bothered with bringing a towel to cover herself, considering she wasn't exactly shy and her hair was so short she didn't bother putting it up in the bath. Meant she got all the effects of the warm water on her soft skin, helping the fox to melt into—

"KEITARO!"

"Ah hell..." Kitsune grumbled, pissed at the disruption of her relaxing bath by none other than Naru pissed off _again_. "The hell is she screaming about now?"

Kitsune listened as the thunderous footsteps took the angry woman across Hinata, up to the second, then third floors, heading towards the far right of the bathing area. Oh, wasn't that where Kei's single bath was? This thought was replaced by the curiosity of what she was seeing in the nearby trees by that balcony, since there was no wind but one of the trees seemed to be moving. The tree kept moving, and moving... until she heard a loud _crack_ and the tree started falling towards the bathing area. It was going to just fall short of the fence, but it's when it was falling that she spotted...

"Kei?" Kitsune muttered aloud, the awe of watching Keitaro – dressed in only a towel and carrying his clothing – riding the top part of the tree as it fell, only to jump off in a high arch towards—"Oh hell he's aiming for the bath!"

Kitsune managed to get the bottle of sake in her hands and raise it up right as Kei managed the splashdown right in the center of the hot spring bath about the time the tree collided with the ground nearby. His clothing seemed to harmlessly land on the nearby fence instead of in the water, which was now spread over much of the stone ground around the bath with the waves Keitaro's landing had made. With a gasp and a sputter Kei stood from the water, instinctively tugging the towel around his waist to make sure he was still properly covered, and moved to wipe his eyes and glasses so he could see again.

"Okay, okay, gotta keep moving; she'll find me—" Kei's tongue stalled in his throat as he found himself staring at the fully nude Mitsune in front of him, eyes wide and arms raised, sake cup in one hand, sake bottle in the other, the former being brought to her lips as she downed what remained in the cup and dropped it into the water. "I'M—BRUGH!"

"Kei, ah know you like 'em after the last two nights, so shut the hell up, enjoy 'em, and do as I say," Kitsune said, having rushed over and pulled the about-to-scream-sorry manager into her breasts like he'd slept in them the nights before, holding him there as she stepped around, positioning herself so that her back was to the entrance. "Now kneel down, keep silent, and don't move, got it?"

Kei tried to nod, only realizing after that it had resulted in him rubbing his face into her breasts more. Then came the thumbs up as they got into the position he'd been told they were moving into, and not a moment too soon as the one-woman-stampede showed up just that moment.

"Kitsune! Where'd that idiot go?!" Naru demanded loudly, looking around the bath and seeing nothing from her position, such as Keitaro's face – and indeed the rest of his body – frozen on the spot in it's concealment behind Kitsune.

"Follow the clothing," was all she said, gesturing with the bottle-holding hand towards the fence with Kei's clothes draped over them. "Guess the clothing weighed him down too much. Bet he lost the towel too by now."

Kitsune grinned as she heard Naru let out a primal growl and rush back into the house, probably intent on cutting where she think Kei was heading off before he got there. Especially since after Kitsune's last comment she was undoubtedly assuming Keitaro was now a streaker in addition to his supposed peeping and perving activities. Blunt and straightforward as Naru was, it wasn't exactly hard for Kitsune to mess with her if she really wanted to, which came in great for saving Keitaro's ass this time.

"Alright sugar, I think the coast is clear," Kitsune said, only now releasing her hold on Keitaro, who immediately withdrew himself from her sizable bosom, turned around where he sat, and began to apologize before Kitsune interrupted. "Oh hush! You ain't got nothing to apologize for! I was the one who pulled _you_ into my tits and wouldn't let you go, wasn't I?"

"Still—"

"Seriously, you spent the last two nights sleeping on my gals, and you're embarrassed now just because there was no shirt between your face and them?" Kitsune mused aloud, chuckling as she reached around under the water for the sake cup she'd dropped. "Please, I wouldn't have done it if I was gonna get up in arms about it. Ah, there's the cup! Wanna drink?"

"No thank you! I should get out and—"

"Run into Naru while she's on the hunt for you and likely will be for quite some time?" Kitsune finished, shaking the water out of the sake cup as she spoke. "Face it, you probably shouldn't leave this bath for about as long as I plan on being in here, so why don't you just sit down with me and enjoy it? It's nice ain't it? Good for your skin too for that matter."

"...why are you doing this?" Kei asked after a long pause, still facing away, head down and eyes closed.

"Well, honestly? Still pissed at Naru and the idea that we shared a bath would infuriate her to no end for one," Kitsune responded matter-of-factly, though with a smug satisfaction across her features. "Two is because there's nothing wrong with a couple of ladies talking, bathing, and drinking together. Hell, the other girls and I do it all the time, though not as much the drinking."

Kitsune couldn't see it, but she could feel Kei smile, if only briefly before embarrassment took it's hold once more.

"I... thanks," Kei managed, softly as he scooted around, still not looking at Kitsune, but at least was sitting on the same side of the bath as her, blatantly facing away though. "I don't think I can face you right now though, because..."

"Yeah, I could feel 'it' earlier," Kitsune said, an eye opening as she watched Kei slump a bit more. "Hey, don't get down; I know I'm hot, and I'm glad you think so too! Sake will help it get limper quicker though, so have a drink."

Kei hesitated a moment, but soon was reaching behind him for the cup, which Kitsune handed him and filled to the brim, and which then quickly made it to his lips. Repeat again, and Keitaro handed the cup back to the fox-woman.

"Thanks," he said, still rather quiet. "This feels kind of weird, sharing a bath again."

"Who else have you shared a bath with?"

"Oh, my adoptive sister, a long time ago and nothing happened!" Kei quickly added, sitting up a little straighter. "We were both little, and it only happened once, because after the bath I told my parents... um... told them I wanted 'mine' to look like 'hers'..."

Kitsune didn't really have a response for that; hadn't exactly planned on getting to such things so quickly but hell, why not?

"Yeah, can't imagine that went over well," Kitsune commented as she poured herself some more sake. "And I'm guessing public bathing, male-only or even mixed, was an outright no from there?"

"Yeah. I, uh, really feel uncomfortable when I can see my own body, even more when others can see it too," Kei explained, getting quieter as he spoke, becoming more self-conscious. "You know, because it's not the one I'm supposed to have..."

Silence again. This was a tougher conversation than Kitsune had originally thought it'd be...

"You know, since the last time we chatted, I've been doing some research into your... condition isn't the right word but you know what I mean, right?" Kei perked up a bit at this, clearly curious. "Learning more about the 'condition,' about people like you, the medical stuff, the way people treat you, that sort of stuff. Found out one of the chairs for Tokyo's Setagaya Ward is openly transgender, didn't know that. It's been really interesting to say the least."

"I, wow, just because of me? You didn't need to do that you know."

"I know. I figured you'd appreciate it though, and yes that's why I've been so 'different' the last few weeks, before you ask," Kitsune stated, clicking her tongue in – mostly – feigned frustration. "Seriously, I act a little differently and everyone starts losing their minds thinking something's wrong with me."

"W-Well, they're just worried is all," Kei says, smiling as he started to sit back up more, the conversation helping 'it' behave itself. "You all care about each other so much. It's quite nice to see honestly."

"We care about you too, sugar," Kitsune said, watching as Kei blushed so much that his neck began to turn red. "Two of them obviously do, two just don't know how to show it, and me, well, I don't let just _anyone_ sleep with me, nuzzle my heavy breasts like you did, or see me in all my bare, curvy, soft—"

"Oh gods please stop!" Kei exclaimed, shoving his hands against his crotch, trying to keep 'it' down, trying to think of a good way to change the subject. "Did you have any questions about what you read or... something?!"

"Why yes I did in fact!" Kitsune responded, grinning as she'd gotten what she wanted ultimately. "How come you're so worried about people knowing? From what I read, it's not nearly as bad as you seem to think it is. There are actors, singers, a government official, all open about it. A lot of stuff I read seemed like a lot of people are quite accepting of it."

"No, they're not," Kei responded immediately, strangely firm in his tone. "Tokyo and larger cities, people are _more_ understanding, but once you get into the provinces it's much different, because people are more conservative and traditional. That's the area I grew up, trust me, and even here at Hinata, around town, you can see it. Even in the big cities where they are more open-minded, most people see transwomen as some form of entertainment, something they see on TV that they can laugh at, whose lifestyle is little more than a gimmick for their amusement. Ever wonder why 'a guy dressing and trying to pass as a girl' seems to happen mostly in comedies, or in dramas where that's the focus issue, but never as 'just another character' anywhere else?"

Kitsune was speechless; this was quite a turnaround, and the firmness behind his tone was completely unexpected, as was how dark and down it seemed to make him. That feeling in the pit of her stomach, definitely not the alcohol's doing, was beginning to rear it's ugly head again.

"When cisgendered 'normal' people have to take people like me seriously, it scares them, or angers them. We become real people who are _different_, and people don't like it when there's something they don't, can't, or won't understand," Kei continued, bringing his legs back up again, something Kitsune was figuring he did when he was self-conscious and sad now. "And it... it makes m... _us_... _hate_ ourselves even more than we already do..."

His little slip-up didn't go by Kitsune; Keiko was saying she hated herself for who she was. Kitsune set down the bottle and slid over to her manager, gently wrapping her arms around her masculine body and pulling her in tight for a hug. Kei naturally tensed up at the feeling of Kitsune's body against hers, but relaxed into her the next moment, and even more deeply the next. Kitsune didn't say anything, but even so she could sense – as Kei put her hand over Mitsune's own – that Kei knew she was sorry to bring such feelings up, and that all jokes aside, she _did_ care about the woman that took care of their home, watched over Su, and rushed to Shinobu's aid without so much as a second thought.

It was like that for a while, but strangely enough it wasn't Kitsune who broke the silence:

"You know... taking care of Su... helping out Shinobu... it made me feel a bit like I imagine a mother feels taking care of her kids," Kei said, bringing a smile to both her own and Mitsune's face. "I really like that feeling."

"You'd make a good mom I bet," Mitsune said, and then squeezed Kei a bit tighter as she felt her about to speak. "And if you say that I would too, I'll break you. I ain't having no kids any time soon, sugar!"

That got a giggle out of Kei, who gave Mitsune's arm a squeeze instead. Then it was back to the silent embrace, and after a fair amount of thought, it was Kitsune who broke the silence this time:

"Next time I go out on a Friday, you're going to come with me..." Kitsune said, leaning in closer so that she was whispering the last words almost breathily into Kei's ear. "Kei_ko_ Urashima..."

* * *

_**End Chapter 3**_

* * *

_AN: Chapter 3, that's a wrap! Getting into things a bit more now, moving the timeline a bit as we go! I hope everyone loved this chapter and if there are any questions about pronoun usage, please PM me and I'll help to clarify when I can, and if need be I will put a detailed descriptor in the next chapter to help clarify things (possibly at the top of this one too if I get enough confusion). Anyway, next chapter is already underway by the time you're reading this, so look forward to it soon!_

_**A.W.R II**_


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